Getting dressed up to host at night at your place is such a vibe. Whether you’re having a cocktail making session with your girlfriends or you’re hosting a dinner party for people you haven’t seen in wayyy too long, entertaining people in your kitchen is the perfect change of pace, especially when you’ve gotten used to ordering two large Domino’s pizza and watching F·R·I·E·N·D·S in your living room… again. Yeah. It’s easy to see why entertaining at home is on another level entirely.
But in the same way so much goes into creating a great restaurant or a swanky bar, there are a few key ingredients that will turn your kitchen into the perfect entertaining space. Somewhere your guests will feel relaxed, comfortable and ready for a fun night in, while also making it easy for you to play maitre’d, cook up a feast and then clean up afterwards.
With that in mind, here’s how to make your kitchen the perfect entertaining space:
Make Seating Your Priority
The dream is to have an open-plan kitchen that has a plethora of places for people to sit down and relax. Sofas, armchairs and a dining table that can seat 20. Of course, dreams and realities don’t always line-up. But don’t worry because there are so many ways you can get creative with your smaller kitchen when welcoming guests to your home; you just need to get a little creative.
From building a banquette bench seat around one or two sides of your kitchen table so you can squeeze more people in to opting for a kitchen island that has a long breakfast bar down one side for you to fill with beautiful barstools, there’s a bunch of routes for you to go down that will give your guests more options.
Clutter-Free Counters Are A Must
When you’ve got guests coming over to yours, the last thing you want is cluttered sides that take up unnecessary space in your kitchen. Instead you want enough storage options that you can keep your counters clean and tidy, and your cupboards neat and organised. Luckily, the options are almost endless.
Think large larders and clever islands for your bulkier items, a harvest table for a storage solution that can double up as an extra worktop, open shelves for your mason jars and trinkets, and hooks here, there and everywhere as a way of displaying your pots and pans in an farmhouse way.
A Dedicated Bar Area
When you’re entertaining people in your kitchen, the best thing you can create is a place for people to chat, laugh and top up their glasses while you prepare the food. That’s where kitchen islands and breakfast bars come into their own. With enough space for people to put their drinks down, keep a bottle of wine on ice and lay out your canapes, these extra worktop spaces are the perfect place for you to get sociable with your guests without having to step away to check on this or whip up that.
As for seating, it all depends on how many guests you have. If there are just a few of you, pop some barstools around your island to create an intimate space where people can relax. If you’ve invited more than that, however, it’s best to put the barstools away so that more people can stand comfortably around your dedicated bar area.
Appliances That Make Hosting Easier
Hosting a dinner party is fun. But hosting a dinner party is also stressful. You want to laugh with your guests, make sure they have everything they need, keep their glasses topped up, not overwhelm their senses and deliver a meal that will leave them making the best kind of involuntary noises. Mmmmm. That’s where appliances can swoop in and rescue you.
Set up Alexa to play some fun background music for you, install a Neff Downdraft Hob to stop cooking odours from becoming too much, have strip lights to set the mood throughout the evening, store your wine correctly in a wine cooler and, well, in an ideal world, add an Everhot electric cooker to make cooking a hundred times easier.
The Mood is Everything
We touched on it above, and then realised just how important it is to have lighting options that can set the mood, so we’re doubling down on it – and here’s the bottom line: you want to avoid any harsh overhead illumination,without creating a dark and dingy room. The answer: a layered lighting setup.
Have spotlights in your ceiling, downlights on your walls, under-the-counter LED strips on your cabinets, floor standing lamps in the corners and, if you’re really serious, a mirror ball for afters. Not only will this setup create different areas within your kitchen, but it will create a party-perfect atmosphere too.
Select Right Surfaces For Entertaining
We’re going to let you in on a little secret: in order for you (and your guests) to truly relax, you need to create a space where spillages aren’t a concern. To do this, think carefully about your flooring, cabinet finishes and worktops, all of which have a huge role to play when entertaining friends.
That’s why we recommend choosing materials that are both durable and easy to clean, such as quartz countertops and tiled floors, both of which are strong, sturdy and easy to clean up should any good-time accidents happen.
Thanks for reading. For more kitchen designs and inspiration, follow us on Instagram and Facebook.